THUNDER BAY – Intercity Shopping Centre was open for business this weekend, but in many ways it still seemed like a ghost town.
The vast majority of the stores occupying the city’s largest mall remained shuttered up on Saturday, despite the province earlier this week finally giving the approval for stores to reopen for business as part of Phase 2 of the reopening strategy.
A parking lot normally jammed with vehicles and the hustle and bustle of local commerce was all but empty.
But this didn’t stop shoppers from venturing inside or several businesses to reopen their doors – albeit with strict limitations on the number of people allowed into their stores and plenty of hand sanitizer at the entrances to keep COVID-19 out.
Liam Vance said he just wanted to go for a walk around the mall.
“I haven’t been in here since March,” he said, adding in particular he wanted to check out Urban Planet and Zumiez, both of which were open on Saturday.
For now, it’s not the mall he left behind three months ago.
“It is really weird,” he said. “But I just think it’s really good that the mall did reopen. It really boosts up the economy."
Jazmine Mauro, store manager at Zumiez, said that she and her employees have taken extra precautions when it comes to allowing customers back in. Staff members are wearing masks and the store is being disinfected on a regular basis.
She’s glad to be back.
“I just missed the interaction with customers,” she said, adding it’s also a mental break from months of life at home.
“I’m a full-time mom, so it’s nice to stop being a mom, come to work and just deal with people and have adult conversation again. It was nice.”
Getting back to business is fantastic Ashyea Ross, the junior assistant manager at La Vie En Rose.
“It’s been a little nerve-wracking, but actually I’m kind of excited to just see everybody back together. It’s a whole new thing that we have to do right now ... We’re just taking it day by day,” Ross said.
Sanitizing customers, cleaning more frequently and limiting customers are part of the new normal in retail, she added.
“We’re just limiting the amount of contact we do,” she said. “Everybody’s been pretty good. They’re definitely happy to see everybody’s smiling faces again. And I think they’re happy to see all the measures we’re taking, too.”
More stores are expected to open this week.
